Speaking of Greek...

It's the second debut launch week in a row here on the Buzz blog. (Technically, my launch was last week, too, but we can't exactly have two at once, can we?) So this week is dedicated to the release of my debut novel, OH. MY. GODS.


The official blurb:

If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world—to Greece.

Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students—they are descendants of the Greek gods, super powers included. That’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery.

Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without a sabotaging stepsister from Hades and a gorgeous guy—what a god!—who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure—summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.

The Greek gods get a makeover in this romantic odyssey of mythic proportion.

The real dish:

Phoebe gets uprooted from her life-long California home, separated from her two inseparable-since-kindergarten best friends, and plopped into a word where your clique is determined by your god. And, since Phoebe and her mom are the only two people on the entire island of Serfopoula who aren't descendants of a Greek god, she doesn't exactly have a clique to join.

These god- and goddess-based cliques play a huge part in the story, and they were oh so much fun to write. I'm going to give you a quick rundown of the major cliques and their characteristics, so that if you get uprooted to Serfopoula you'll know your way around the lunch room.

APHRODITE
The goddess of love and beauty. Most of her descendants are cheerleaders--blonde, beautiful, and another "B" I can't name in this blog. Phoebe's chief rival, Adara, belongs to Aphrodite and she is definitely not showing the new girl any love.

ARES
The god of war. In Ancient Greece, he was reviled, but his descendants are the cream of the crop. They're the jocks, the king athletes who aren't above playing a little unfair to win the day. Bad boy runner Griffin is a descendant of Ares.

POSEIDON
The god of the sea. Just as Poseidon rules the waters, his descendants rule the waves. His kin are the tanned and sun-bleached surfer dudes and dudettes who wear board shorts and Pookah shells.

ZEUS
The king of the gods. The descendants of the ruler of Mt. Olympus are the uber-popular crowd. They're rich, powerful, dress like they stepped out of a fashion magazine, and know how to throw a bash that makes Vegas at New Year's look like a church picnic.

HADES
The god of the underworld. He reigns over the dead, so is it any wonder that his descendants are the macabre goth girls? If there's leather, piercings, or black lipstick to be worn, the Hades harem is wearing 'em.

HERA
The queen of the gods. Descendant's of Zeus' consort are poised, polished, and ready to take on the world with a perfect preppy veneer. A little bit Stepford wife, a little bit Jackie O. Phoebe's new stepdad and (evil) stepsister are descendants of Hera.

Okay, so those are the main cliques you'll meet in OH. MY. GODS. (There are more, of course, but these are the most critical to your social survival.) Would you want to be a descendant of one of these gods or goddesses? Or do you have another god or goddess in mind?

Dish on which god you'd like to claim and why. One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of the actual, beautiful hardcover book!

Hugs,
TLC
OH. MY. GODS. -- Dutton, available like NOW!
teralynnchilds.com

PS--This is a one day only contest! Enter by midnight Pacific time.

Call Me Tera Lynn Childs

(Because That's My Name)

Until five years ago, if you had asked me what I wanted to be in life, you'd have gotten about a million different answers. Here's what I might have said, in roughly chronological order: teacher, fashion designer, intellectual property lawyer, world-famous architect, environmental biologist, actress, historic preservationist, restoration architect, celebutante, princess (hey, Wills is still single!) and web designer. Of course, all the time when I was harboring these other "dreams" there was writing. Not whole books or anything, but little story ideas and the occasional awful poem. It was never anything I believed could be a real career.

Then, five years ago, all that changed. I was at a kind of standstill in my life. I was living at home, working for my family and temping on the side (let's just say that if I never have to enter another insurance claim into a computer again, I'll be a happy girl). I started reading more and more, found authors that I just fell in love with. Johanna Lindsey. Julia Quinn. Rachel Gibson. Elizabeth Bevarly. Karen Marie Moning. I read them obsessively, and that gave me the hope that I could do that if I wanted. I could write--and sell--a book!

It took a couple of false starts, but by the end of the year I had finished my first manuscript--an historical romance that wound up finaling in the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart contest. But the historical market was in a lull, so I decided to try my hand at chick lit. Two manuscripts and a bunch of contest finals later the chick lit market followed historicals into a lull. Then I got THE idea. The one that would defy all trends, all market lulls. GROWING UP GODLY was born. (And later re-born as OH. MY. GODS.)

OH. MY. GODS.

If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world – to Greece.

Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students—they are descendants of the Greek gods, super powers included. hat’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery.

Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without sabotaging step-sister from Hades and a gorgeous guy – what a god! –who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure – summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.

What I'm Working On Now

Besides the millions of other ideas roaring through my head, I'm currently writing the sequel to OH. MY. GODS. in which Phoebe continues her adventures on the secret island of Serfopoula. (I wish I could say more, but there would be major spoilers involved!)

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (Dutton) May 2008
teralynnchilds.com